Fantasy vs Science Fiction: A Poll

[Darkchild130]

I can't stand fantasy, with the exception of Game of thrones (tv show, not books). Something about magic really gets my back up.

 

[lauren$77]

I love fantasy the best! I do like watching sci-fi, but think we need a little magic in this scientific world that we live in

 

[The_Sci_Fi_Guy]

Science fiction all the way. Just can't get into fantasy. I love all sci-fi, especially hard-core, whether it be novels, movies, TV, comics or video games.

 

[Bob Whitely]

With all due respect to the OP, I just don't get the poll. By that, I mean that both are clearly very popular in all areas, fantasy being generally more popular, I believe (perhaps due to familiarity with base concepts), but I love them both. I think most people tend to find science fiction a bit more difficult to identify with, simply because there's far more fantasy stories out there and they've been around for so long. But that doesn't make fantasy better.

I could never choose one over the other, and my preference by a very large margin (as my Avatar tag shows) is a blend of both. Also, the genres listed are very broad, and people get confused on what belongs to what genre (for example: Some would say Star Wars is science fiction, others, fantasy, and still others would adopt other various classifications for it). Me, I prefer the term "blended-genre" and find some distinctions between it and multi-genre, but I have my reasons, and the waters are all pretty muddy.

Even authors don't always agree on the classifications of their own works. Their readers have one opinion and they have another, and sometimes the bookstores have yet another.

No matter how much I love pure fantasy and love pure science fiction, I've always far more enjoyed when there's at least some overlap! Just my two cents. I have nothing against people that love their genres pure, like I said.

 

[Hilarious Joke]

Sounds like you do get the poll; you just can't pick.

 

[Bob Whitely]

Hm... it's not really a matter of being unable to pick... it's not seeing a reason to pick, other than asked to. Not to be contrary to the OP or the poll. I don't see the genres at odds, nor one being any better than another.

Since I guess my angle does not fit well with the topic, I'll just stop posting on this thread. My points stand, however, and I see there are some for which the poll does apply, so that's good. Ah well. Have a great day all.

 

[Scathach]

My vote went to SF.
I was a keen Fantasy reader for many years but then I started to get tired of the genre.
SF is definitely my cup of tea!

 

[monsterchic]

Fantasy for me. I enjoy some SF, but as I'm into more of the historical stuff (not that fantasy is historical, just more elements of history)...that's got my vote.

 

[kythe]

Years ago, I voted fantasy in this poll. But my interests have changed over time.

People usually associate fantasy/sci fi with each other. I realized I tell people I'm a sci fi fan, mainly because of Star Trek I guess, but I have read little of the genre. So within the last 3 or so months, I have now read about 8 sci fi classics. I've discovered sci fi isn't half bad. Now I've got to "catch up" on what I've been missing all these years.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Welcome to the Dark Side, Kythe...

 

[Cat's Cradle]

So, a vote that balances...a tie now at 124 all. I have swung both ways, in the last 40 years, with these genres but now I find myself drawn mostly to science fiction...though Rothfuss might change that in the near future.

 

[Rafellin]

Strange poll but I'll play. Fantasy.

Actually, science fantasy by preference.

 

[Wendigo]

Tie restored to 125-all!

For me, it's sci-fi. Probably because I'm a science nerd in the first place. I like space, I like technology and I like to speculate on what the future might be like, so sci-fi it was.

That said I have read a few fantasy books here and there. Liking one doesn't mean you can't like the other, after all.

 

[JonH]

Ooo! I read both, but I love being a tie-breaker. Science fiction is more about ideas than fantasy is, and I like exploring new ideas. So SF edges ahead by one.

 

[Jesse412]

Technically science fiction is just a form of fantasy. For the most part I prefer science fiction to swords and sorcery. Tolkien is one of the few fantasy authors that can hold my attention. Recently I've read quite a bit of Roger Zelazny books that have been gotten me more into fantasy.

 

[JonH]

The poll will have been running five years in a couple of weeks and it's still anybody's race; flipping a coin would have given a bigger variation.

Culhwch, your baby will be five! Are you going to bake it a cake?

 

[Michael Colton]

Theoretically, the various themes of fantasy appeal to me - but in my experience, little of it manages to keep my interest when I actually partake of it. I am not entirely sure why. That holds across all mediums, as well.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

It depends on the author ...

 

[Darkranger85]

I voted for fantasy even though I love both genres.

My first love was R.A. Salvatore and his books in the Forgotten Realms.

 

[psikeyhackr]

I voted for science fiction. I got hooked on the stuff at 9 and the nitwit nuns at my grade school never taught science so much of what I learned was at least indirectly derived from sci-fi. But things were different before Star Wars corrupted the psychosphere and the Moon landing was still something to be imagined.

psik